Sunday, June 27, 2010

Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. Nearly 150 artists have answered a list of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. Secret Sunday was the first project and the links to all the secrets can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The Book Guild is the second project and Chapter 12 starts right now!

All artists participating in The Pulse were asked to name their favorite art books. The Book Guild will present this list, along with links, book reviews, giveaways, and interviews with many of your favorite authors. And as members of The Guild, I am hoping YOU will participate by leaving comments related to the books in each post - for example thoughts, book reviews, personal experiences, or a link back to your own blog posts that include artwork based on a project in the listed book.
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We are lucky to have Linda share some personal thoughts about the book and the revolution!

The Beginning Of A Revolution

It seems like I can't do one thing without it leading to two other things. When I think about the time when we were working on Journal Revolution it is hard not to think of the other revolutions it started. My sister, Karen, and I started working on Journal Revolution in 2005 but we'd been thinking about it even before we started Visual Chronicles. It was really important for us to share our philosophy that art is really about self-expression and not about supplies. We wanted people to understand that the way they lived their lives and that everything around them was part of their truth- part of their art -and that they could express that with whatever they already had. Somehow in the last twenty years art became about using just the "right" supplies or following a certain pattern. People were losing their individuality and their voice and we wanted to bring that back! And, we wanted to help take the fear our of the process for people who needed the guidance.

Visual Chronicles and Journal Revolution are all about putting YOU in your art, and finding the most authentic way to to that. Seeing, feeling, meeting, knowing yourself --- it all involves reflection, and coming to terms with, or battle with, or to peace with who you see when you look in the mirror. That is what you will see when you create, one way or the other.

One battle we came to terms with when the books were in production and once they came out was from craft stores that did not want to sell the book. Our books did not fit the mold of typical how-to or craft books because we were not telling readers they had to BUY anything to create art or express themselves. And when we did suggest products for people to buy, they were often inexpensive and non-archival, which angered many of the people who believed the secret to "perfect" art lies in acid-free glue. Our belief is that the secret to any art is to express yourself with whatever you feel like using to capture a moment. You are the boss of your own art. There is no right way to do it. We learned quickly in an era of commercialized cookie-cutter arts and crafts kits, we were fighting an uphill battle in that market.

The more we were challenged, the more we wanted to keep going. We were on a mission to free the artist in everyone! When craft stores rejected us, traditional book stores welcomed us. When we were not being supported by our publisher, our Art Army helped us spread our message. Whenever there was a negative, there was a positive. We were inspired by so many people who made art for the first time, people who learned how to choose colors based on their moods, people who were inspired by their own lives, artists who had forgotten what they already knew. It was liberating!

While we were teaching people, we learned a lot about ourselves and persevering in the process. We spent a lot of time traveling and meeting the people who were becoming artists with Visual Chronicles and Journal Revolution as their guides. The Journal Revolution progressed to the next step -- another book and a new revolution. A revolution with even fewer art supplies and braver self-expression!

We had confirmed that constant self awareness creates great art, that great art is simple self expression, and that when you talk honestly with people about what is really going on in their lives, their hearts, their imaginations, we are all so much alike. So, we went to the most frightening canvas there is--the mirror. And we brought simple truth before it to create perfect art.

Linda has generously offered to give away a copy of her book Journal Revolution to one lucky reader of The Altered Page. You know the drill. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post. Comments will close next Saturday July 3. The winner will be posted next Sunday July 4 as part of the next post for The Book Guild. Good luck!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I have been asked a number of times recently to share my source for the hands I am using in my Making Waves series. Back when I was working on my Handbook...

...I began an obsessive search for hands. There is a flea market every Saturday in my neighborhood which I dutifully visited weekly as part of my search. One day I spotted a small, wooden hand that was obviously very old and that was screaming my name. The booth owner said that it was not for sale. The hand had broken off a 19th century religious statue and he was keeping it in the case to remind him to make repairs. I was disappointed until he told me to return the following week as he might have a few more hands at his other booth location.

Well to say I hit the jackpot would be an understatement. Although he did not show at the flea market for the next two weeks, on the third week he reached below his table and pulled out not a few hands but a bag bursting with hands, all of which had broken off of ancient religious statues. I left that day with each and every one.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. Nearly 150 artists have answered a list of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. Secret Sunday was the first project and the links to all the secrets can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The Book Guild is the second project and Chapter 11 starts right now!

All artists participating in The Pulse were asked to name their favorite art books. The Book Guild will present this list, along with links, book reviews, giveaways, and interviews with many of your favorite authors. And as members of The Guild, I am hoping YOU will participate by leaving comments related to the books in each post - for example thoughts, book reviews, personal experiences, or a link back to your own blog posts that include artwork based on a project in the listed book.
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Chapter 11: Multiples

Many authors and books were chosen by more than one artist as their favorite and today a few of these multiples are highlighted...

Three of Nick Bantock's books were listed as favorites:

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence was included on the lists of Maj Carita Hoenborg and Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart, who adds "Nick Bantock has written many wonderful books with extraordinary correspondence and illustrations between two characters Griffin and Sabine. The artwork will mesmerize the viewer. I think they first came out in the early 1990’s. Sabine’s Notebook, Griffin and Sabine and the Golden Mean are still vibrant today and their intimate messages display the continual search for harmony and perfect balance. It is like reading someone else’s mail and silly as it may sound a delicate prelude to today’s blogging experiences."

About this book Curio said "I have a lot of art books and all have something to offer but when I am looking for inspiration nothing beats The Artful Dodger, the autobiography of Nick Bantock. I do have most of his books but derived a great deal of insight from that one in particular."

Michele added "This book was another important book for me as far as gaining artistic self confidence. A line I remember is Bantock describing himself when he entered art school: "...I couldn't draw in proportion, couldn't make three marks without erasing two, and had virtually no color sense." Bantock let me know that skills can be learned and improved through practice. This gave me the courage to learn to draw."

Of this book Carol said, "Years ago I got into the Julian Cameron books and I am amazed that they are still as popular today, or maybe more so, than they were then. I used her ideas from The Artist’s Way At Work, to help me survive my job until I retired. I am thankful for that book!"
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Friday, June 18, 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

I had the opportunity to see Red on Broadway. It recreates a period in time when Rothko was commissioned to create a series of canvases for the soon to be opened Four Season's restaurant in New York City. The story is told through the often fiery relationship between Rothko and his assistant, also a painter.

I was mesmerized as the story unfolded, certainly by the dialogue but especially by the set and the action. The entire play takes place in Rothko's studio, a paint splattered, cavernous space with no natural light. Some of the most intense and effective scenes took place in silence, as when the actors gracefully moved and hung the large canvases. And the peak moment for me was when the two men together primed a single canvas with blood-red primer, in a perfectly choreographed, athletically inspired, and creatively charged moment of artistic passion. I left the theatre eager to paint, which I thought was probably the best review I could give the show.

In thinking about Red, I realized that this was a color I rarely use in my artwork. Every so often it becomes a small accent. But I had to look back, all the way to 2008, to find the one and only piece I have made that is predominantly red in color. And how funny that "Harmony" also happens to be the first artwork I sold in my Etsy shop.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. Nearly 150 artists have answered a list of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. Secret Sunday was the first project and the links to all the secrets can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The Book Guild is the second project and Chapter 10 starts right now!

All artists participating in The Pulse were asked to name their favorite art books. The Book Guild will present this list, along with links, book reviews, giveaways, and interviews with many of your favorite authors. And as members of The Guild, I am hoping YOU will participate by leaving comments related to the books in each post - for example thoughts, book reviews, personal experiences, or a link back to your own blog posts that include artwork based on a project in the listed book.
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Dawn was kind enough to share some thoughts with The Altered Page about her book. "1000 Artist Journal Pages was a great opportunity for me that couldn't have come along at a better time. I wanted to create a book that would inspire ME, so that's what I did. It amazed me that I received submissions from all over the world, including Beirut and Iceland. And it reminded me that we are ALL the same, we all want the same things in life. Creativity is EVERYWHERE, in every corner of the world, which makes it SO beautiful!"

You can visit Dawn here on her blog or click here to be taken to a series of posts on Dawn's blog to read about the making of 1000 AJP.